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Kitl, human: KITLG) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1), acting via KIT and IGF1 receptor (IGF1R), respectively, are critical for the development and integrity of several tissues. Autocrine/paracrine KITLG-KIT and IGF1-IGF1R signaling are also activated in several cancers including gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), the most common sarcoma. In murine gastric muscles, IGF1 promotes Kitl-dependent development of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), the non-neoplastic counterpart of GIST, suggesting cooperation between these pathways. Here, we report a novel mechanism linking IGF1-IGF1R and KITLG-KIT signaling in both normal and neoplastic cells. In murine gastric muscles, the microenvironment for ICC and GIST, human hepatic stellate cells (LX-2), a model for cancer niches, and GIST cells, IGF1 stimulated Kitl/KITLG protein and mRNA expression and promoter activity by activating several signaling pathways including AKT-mediated glycogen synthase kinase-3? inhibition (GSK3i). GSK3i alone also stimulated Kitl/KITLG expression without activating mitogenic pathways. Both IGF1 and GSK3i induced chromatin-level changes favoring transcriptional activation at the Kitl promoter including increased histone H3/H4 acetylation and H3 lysine (K) 4 methylation, reduced H3K9 and H3K27 methylation and reduced occupancy by the H3K27 methyltransferase EZH2. By pharmacological or RNA interference-mediated inhibition of chromatin modifiers we demonstrated that these changes have the predicted impact on KITLG expression. KITLG knock-down and immunoneutralization inhibited the proliferation of GIST cells expressing wild-type KIT, signifying oncogenic autocrine/paracrine KITLG-KIT signaling. We conclude that membrane-to-nucleus signaling involving GSK3i establishes a previously unrecognized link between the IGF1-IGF1R and KITLG-KIT pathways, which is active in both physiologic and oncogenic contexts and can be exploited for therapeutic purposes.

The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are mesenchymal derived "pacemaker cells" of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that generate spontaneous slow waves required for peristalsis and mediate neuronal input from the enteric nervous system1. Different subtypes of ICC form distinct networks in the muscularis of the GI tract 2,3. Loss or injury to these networks is associated with a number of motility disorders4. ICC cells express the KIT receptor tyrosine kinase on the plasma membrane and KIT immunostaining has been used for the past 15 years to label the ICC network5,6. Importantly, normal KIT activity is required for ICC development5,6. Neoplastic transformation of ICC cells results in gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), that frequently harbor gain-of-function KIT mutations7,8. We recently showed that ETV1 is a lineage-specific survival factor expressed in the ICC/GIST lineage and is a master transcriptional regulator required for both normal ICC network formation and for of GIST tumorigenesis9. We further demonstrate that it cooperates with activating KIT mutations in tumorigenesis. Here, we describe methods for visualization of ICC networks in mice, largely based on previously published protocols10,11. More recently, the chloride channel anoctamin 1 (ANO1) has also been characterized as a specific membrane marker of ICC11,12. Because of their plasma membrane localization, immunofluorescence of both proteins can be used to visualize the ICC networks. Here, we describe visualization of the ICC networks by fixed-frozen cyrosections and whole mount preparations.

Institutions: University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Invasive breast carcinomas are a group of malignant epithelial tumors characterized by the invasion of adjacent tissues and propensity to metastasize. The interplay of signals between cancer cells and their microenvironment exerts a powerful influence on breast cancer growth and biological behavior1. However, most of these signals from the extracellular matrix are lost or their relevance is understudied when cells are grown in two dimensional culture (2D) as a monolayer. In recent years, three dimensional (3D) culture on a reconstituted basement membrane has emerged as a method of choice to recapitulate the tissue architecture of benign and malignant breast cells. Cells grown in 3D retain the important cues from the extracellular matrix and provide a physiologically relevant ex vivo system2,3. Of note, there is growing evidence suggesting that cells behave differently when grown in 3D as compared to 2D4. 3D culture can be effectively used as a means to differentiate the malignant phenotype from the benign breast phenotype and for underpinning the cellular and molecular signaling involved3. One of the distinguishing characteristics of benign epithelial cells is that they are polarized so that the apical cytoplasm is towards the lumen and the basal cytoplasm rests on the basement membrane. This apico-basal polarity is lost in invasive breast carcinomas, which are characterized by cellular disorganization and formation of anastomosing and branching tubules that haphazardly infiltrates the surrounding stroma. These histopathological differences between benign gland and invasive carcinoma can be reproduced in 3D6,7. Using the appropriate read-outs like the quantitation of single round acinar structures, or differential expression of validated molecular markers for cell proliferation, polarity and apoptosis in combination with other molecular and cell biology techniques, 3D culture can provide an important tool to better understand the cellular changes during malignant transformation and for delineating the responsible signaling.

In response to viral infection, a host develops various defensive responses, such as activating innate immune signaling pathways that lead to antiviral cytokine production1,2. In order to colonize the host, viruses are obligate to evade host antiviral responses and manipulate signaling pathways. Unraveling the host-virus interaction will shed light on the development of novel therapeutic strategies against viral infection.
Murine γHV68 is closely related to human oncogenic Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus and Epsten-Barr virus3,4. γHV68 infection in laboratory mice provides a tractable small animal model to examine the entire course of host responses and viral infection in vivo, which are not available for human herpesviruses. In this protocol, we present a panel of methods for phenotypic characterization and molecular dissection of host signaling components in γHV68 lytic replication both in vivo and ex vivo. The availability of genetically modified mouse strains permits the interrogation of the roles of host signaling pathways during γHV68 acute infection in vivo. Additionally, mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) isolated from these deficient mouse strains can be used to further dissect roles of these molecules during γHV68 lytic replication ex vivo.
Using virological and molecular biology assays, we can pinpoint the molecular mechanism of host-virus interactions and identify host and viral genes essential for viral lytic replication. Finally, a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) system facilitates the introduction of mutations into the viral factor(s) that specifically interrupt the host-virus interaction. Recombinant γHV68 carrying these mutations can be used to recapitulate the phenotypes of γHV68 lytic replication in MEFs deficient in key host signaling components. This protocol offers an excellent strategy to interrogate host-pathogen interaction at multiple levels of intervention in vivo and ex vivo.
Recently, we have discovered that γHV68 usurps an innate immune signaling pathway to promote viral lytic replication5. Specifically, γHV68 de novo infection activates the immune kinase IKKβ and activated IKKβ phosphorylates the master viral transcription factor, replication and transactivator (RTA), to promote viral transcriptional activation. In doing so, γHV68 efficiently couples its transcriptional activation to host innate immune activation, thereby facilitating viral transcription and lytic replication. This study provides an excellent example that can be applied to other viruses to interrogate host-virus interaction.

RNA interference (RNAi) represents a high effective mechanism for specific inhibition of mRNA expression. Besides its potential as a powerful laboratory tool, the RNAi pathway appears to be promising for therapeutic utilization. For development of RNA interference (RNAi)-based therapies, delivery of RNAi-mediating agents to target cells is one of the major obstacles. A novel strategy to overcome this hurdle is transkingdom RNAi (tkRNAi). This technology uses non-pathogenic bacteria, e.g. Escherichia coli, to produce and deliver therapeutic short hairpin RNA (shRNA) into target cells to induce RNAi. A first-generation tkRNAi-mediating vector, TRIP, contains the bacteriophage T7 promoter for expression regulation of a therapeutic shRNA of interest. Furthermore, TRIP has the Inv locus from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis that encodes invasin, which permits natural noninvasive bacteria to enter β1-integrin-positive mammalian cells and the HlyA gene from Listeria monocytogenes, which produces listeriolysin O. This enzyme allows the therapeutic shRNA to escape from entry vesicles within the cytoplasm of the target cell. TRIP constructs are introduced into a competent non-pathogenic Escherichia coli strain, which encodes T7 RNA polymerase necessary for the T7 promoter-driven synthesis of shRNAs. A well-characterized cancer-associated target molecule for different RNAi strategies is ABCB1 (MDR1/P-glycoprotein, MDR1/P-gp). This ABC-transporter acts as a drug extrusion pump and mediates the "classical" ABCB1-mediated multidrug resistance (MDR) phenotype of human cancer cells which is characterized by a specific cross resistance pattern. Different ABCB1-expressing MDR cancer cells were treated with anti-ABCB1 shRNA expression vector bearing E. coli. This procedure resulted in activation of the RNAi pathways within the cancer cells and a considerable down regulation of the ABCB1 encoding mRNA as well as the corresponding drug extrusion pump. Accordingly, drug accumulation was enhanced in the pristine drug-resistant cancer cells and the MDR phenotype was reversed. By means of this model the data provide the proof-of-concept that tkRNAi is suitable for modulation of cancer-associated factors, e.g. ABCB1, in human cancer cells.

Institutions: Medical College of Wisconsin, Stanford University School of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Hong Kong University, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin.

There is an urgent need to develop approaches for repairing the damaged heart, discovering new therapeutic drugs that do not have toxic effects on the heart, and improving strategies to accurately model heart disease. The potential of exploiting human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) technology to generate cardiac muscle “in a dish” for these applications continues to generate high enthusiasm. In recent years, the ability to efficiently generate cardiomyogenic cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) has greatly improved, offering us new opportunities to model very early stages of human cardiac development not otherwise accessible. In contrast to many previous methods, the cardiomyocyte differentiation protocol described here does not require cell aggregation or the addition of Activin A or BMP4 and robustly generates cultures of cells that are highly positive for cardiac troponin I and T (TNNI3, TNNT2), iroquois-class homeodomain protein IRX-4 (IRX4), myosin regulatory light chain 2, ventricular/cardiac muscle isoform (MLC2v) and myosin regulatory light chain 2, atrial isoform (MLC2a) by day 10 across all human embryonic stem cell (hESC) and hiPSC lines tested to date. Cells can be passaged and maintained for more than 90 days in culture. The strategy is technically simple to implement and cost-effective. Characterization of cardiomyocytes derived from pluripotent cells often includes the analysis of reference markers, both at the mRNA and protein level. For protein analysis, flow cytometry is a powerful analytical tool for assessing quality of cells in culture and determining subpopulation homogeneity. However, technical variation in sample preparation can significantly affect quality of flow cytometry data. Thus, standardization of staining protocols should facilitate comparisons among various differentiation strategies. Accordingly, optimized staining protocols for the analysis of IRX4, MLC2v, MLC2a, TNNI3, and TNNT2 by flow cytometry are described.

Institutions: University of Alabama at Birmingham, INRA UR1067, INRA UR1037.

Due to the inherent difficulty and time involved with studying the myogenic program in vivo, primary culture systems derived from the resident adult stem cells of skeletal muscle, the myogenic precursor cells (MPCs), have proven indispensible to our understanding of mammalian skeletal muscle development and growth. Particularly among the basal taxa of Vertebrata, however, data are limited describing the molecular mechanisms controlling the self-renewal, proliferation, and differentiation of MPCs. Of particular interest are potential mechanisms that underlie the ability of basal vertebrates to undergo considerable postlarval skeletal myofiber hyperplasia (i.e. teleost fish) and full regeneration following appendage loss (i.e. urodele amphibians). Additionally, the use of cultured myoblasts could aid in the understanding of regeneration and the recapitulation of the myogenic program and the differences between them. To this end, we describe in detail a robust and efficient protocol (and variations therein) for isolating and maintaining MPCs and their progeny, myoblasts and immature myotubes, in cell culture as a platform for understanding the evolution of the myogenic program, beginning with the more basal vertebrates. Capitalizing on the model organism status of the zebrafish (Danio rerio), we report on the application of this protocol to small fishes of the cyprinid clade Danioninae. In tandem, this protocol can be utilized to realize a broader comparative approach by isolating MPCs from the Mexican axolotl (Ambystomamexicanum) and even laboratory rodents. This protocol is now widely used in studying myogenesis in several fish species, including rainbow trout, salmon, and sea bream1-4.

Neutrophils are the most abundant leukocytes in peripheral blood. These cells are the first to appear at sites of inflammation and infection, thus becoming the first line of defense against invading microorganisms. Neutrophils possess important antimicrobial functions such as phagocytosis, release of lytic enzymes, and production of reactive oxygen species. In addition to these important defense functions, neutrophils perform other tasks in response to infection such as production of proinflammatory cytokines and inhibition of apoptosis. Cytokines recruit other leukocytes that help clear the infection, and inhibition of apoptosis allows the neutrophil to live longer at the site of infection. These functions are regulated at the level of transcription. However, because neutrophils are short-lived cells, the study of transcriptionally regulated responses in these cells cannot be performed with conventional reporter gene methods since there are no efficient techniques for neutrophil transfection. Here, we present a simple and efficient method that allows detection and quantification of nuclear factors in isolated and immunolabeled nuclei by flow cytometry. We describe techniques to isolate pure neutrophils from human peripheral blood, stimulate these cells with anti-receptor antibodies, isolate and immunolabel nuclei, and analyze nuclei by flow cytometry. The method has been successfully used to detect NF-κB and Elk-1 nuclear factors in nuclei from neutrophils and other cell types. Thus, this method represents an option for analyzing activation of transcription factors in isolated nuclei from a variety of cell types.

Mouse Embryonic Development in a Serum-free Whole Embryo Culture System

Authors: Vijay K. Kalaskar, James D. Lauderdale.

Institutions: University of Georgia, University of Georgia.

Mid-gestation stage mouse embryos were cultured utilizing a serum-free culture medium prepared from commercially available stem cell media supplements in an oxygenated rolling bottle culture system. Mouse embryos at E10.5 were carefully isolated from the uterus with intact yolk sac and in a process involving precise surgical maneuver the embryos were gently exteriorized from the yolk sac while maintaining the vascular continuity of the embryo with the yolk sac. Compared to embryos prepared with intact yolk sac or with the yolk sac removed, these embryos exhibited superior survival rate and developmental progression when cultured under similar conditions. We show that these mouse embryos, when cultured in a defined medium in an atmosphere of 95% O2 / 5% CO2 in a rolling bottle culture apparatus at 37 °​C for 16-40 hr, exhibit morphological growth and development comparable to the embryos developing in utero. We believe this method will be useful for investigators needing to utilize whole embryo culture to study signaling interactions important in embryonic organogenesis.

Breast ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), by definition, is proliferation of neoplastic epithelial cells within the confines of the breast duct, without breaching the collagenous basement membrane. While DCIS is a non-obligate precursor to invasive breast cancers, the molecular mechanisms and cell populations that permit progression to invasive cancer are not fully known. To determine if progenitor cells capable of invasion existed within the DCIS cell population, we developed a methodology for collecting and culturing sterile human breast tissue at the time of surgery, without enzymatic disruption of tissue.
Sterile breast tissue containing ductal segments is harvested from surgically excised breast tissue following routine pathological examination. Tissue containing DCIS is placed in nutrient rich, antibiotic-containing, serum free medium, and transported to the tissue culture laboratory. The breast tissue is further dissected to isolate the calcified areas. Multiple breast tissue pieces (organoids) are placed in a minimal volume of serum free medium in a flask with a removable lid and cultured in a humidified CO2 incubator. Epithelial and fibroblast cell populations emerge from the organoid after 10 - 14 days. Mammospheres spontaneously form on and around the epithelial cell monolayer. Specific cell populations can be harvested directly from the flask without disrupting neighboring cells. Our non-enzymatic tissue culture system reliably reveals cytogenetically abnormal, invasive progenitor cells from fresh human DCIS lesions.

Erythropoiesis in mammals concludes with the dramatic process of enucleation that results in reticulocyte formation. The mechanism of enucleation has not yet been fully elucidated. A common problem encountered when studying the localization of key proteins and structures within enucleating erythroblasts by microscopy is the difficulty to observe a sufficient number of cells undergoing enucleation. We have developed a novel analysis protocol using multiparameter high-speed cell imaging in flow (Multi-Spectral Imaging Flow Cytometry), a method that combines immunofluorescent microscopy with flow cytometry, in order to identify efficiently a significant number of enucleating events, that allows to obtain measurements and perform statistical analysis.
We first describe here two in vitro erythropoiesis culture methods used in order to synchronize murine erythroblasts and increase the probability of capturing enucleation at the time of evaluation. Then, we describe in detail the staining of erythroblasts after fixation and permeabilization in order to study the localization of intracellular proteins or lipid rafts during enucleation by multi-spectral imaging flow cytometry. Along with size and DNA/Ter119 staining which are used to identify the orthochromatic erythroblasts, we utilize the parameters “aspect ratio” of a cell in the bright-field channel that aids in the recognition of elongated cells and “delta centroid XY Ter119/Draq5” that allows the identification of cellular events in which the center of Ter119 staining (nascent reticulocyte) is far apart from the center of Draq5 staining (nucleus undergoing extrusion), thus indicating a cell about to enucleate. The subset of the orthochromatic erythroblast population with high delta centroid and low aspect ratio is highly enriched in enucleating cells.

The ability to migrate is a hallmark of various cell types and plays a crucial role in several physiological processes, including embryonic development, wound healing, and immune responses. However, cell migration is also a key mechanism in cancer enabling these cancer cells to detach from the primary tumor to start metastatic spreading. Within the past years various cell migration assays have been developed to analyze the migratory behavior of different cell types. Because the locomotory behavior of cells markedly differs between a two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) environment it can be assumed that the analysis of the migration of cells that are embedded within a 3D environment would yield in more significant cell migration data. The advantage of the described 3D collagen matrix migration assay is that cells are embedded within a physiological 3D network of collagen fibers representing the major component of the extracellular matrix. Due to time-lapse video microscopy real cell migration is measured allowing the determination of several migration parameters as well as their alterations in response to pro-migratory factors or inhibitors. Various cell types could be analyzed using this technique, including lymphocytes/leukocytes, stem cells, and tumor cells. Likewise, also cell clusters or spheroids could be embedded within the collagen matrix concomitant with analysis of the emigration of single cells from the cell cluster/ spheroid into the collagen lattice. We conclude that the 3D collagen matrix migration assay is a versatile method to analyze the migration of cells within a physiological-like 3D environment.

The article describes a readily easy adaptive in vitro model to investigate macrophage polarization. In the presence of GM-CSF/M-CSF, hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells from the bone marrow are directed into monocytic differentiation, followed by M1 or M2 stimulation. The activation status can be tracked by changes in cell surface antigens, gene expression and cell signaling pathways.

Application of MassSQUIRM for Quantitative Measurements of Lysine Demethylase Activity

Authors: Lauren P. Blair, Nathan L. Avaritt, Alan J. Tackett.

Institutions: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences .

Recently, epigenetic regulators have been discovered as key players in many different diseases 1-3. As a result, these enzymes are prime targets for small molecule studies and drug development 4. Many epigenetic regulators have only recently been discovered and are still in the process of being classified. Among these enzymes are lysine demethylases which remove methyl groups from lysines on histones and other proteins. Due to the novel nature of this class of enzymes, few assays have been developed to study their activity. This has been a road block to both the classification and high throughput study of histone demethylases. Currently, very few demethylase assays exist. Those that do exist tend to be qualitative in nature and cannot simultaneously discern between the different lysine methylation states (un-, mono-, di- and tri-). Mass spectrometry is commonly used to determine demethylase activity but current mass spectrometric assays do not address whether differentially methylated peptides ionize differently. Differential ionization of methylated peptides makes comparing methylation states difficult and certainly not quantitative (Figure 1A). Thus available assays are not optimized for the comprehensive analysis of demethylase activity.
Here we describe a method called MassSQUIRM (mass spectrometric quantitation using isotopic reductive methylation) that is based on reductive methylation of amine groups with deuterated formaldehyde to force all lysines to be di-methylated, thus making them essentially the same chemical species and therefore ionize the same (Figure 1B). The only chemical difference following the reductive methylation is hydrogen and deuterium, which does not affect MALDI ionization efficiencies. The MassSQUIRM assay is specific for demethylase reaction products with un-, mono- or di-methylated lysines. The assay is also applicable to lysine methyltransferases giving the same reaction products. Here, we use a combination of reductive methylation chemistry and MALDI mass spectrometry to measure the activity of LSD1, a lysine demethylase capable of removing di- and mono-methyl groups, on a synthetic peptide substrate 5. This assay is simple and easily amenable to any lab with access to a MALDI mass spectrometer in lab or through a proteomics facility. The assay has ~8-fold dynamic range and is readily scalable to plate format 5.

Axons in the central nervous system (CNS) do not regenerate while those in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) do regenerate
to a limited extent after injury (Teng et al., 2006). It is recognized that transcriptional programs essential for neurite and axonal outgrowth are
reactivated upon injury in the PNS (Makwana et al., 2005). However the tools available to analyze neuronal gene regulation in vivo are limited and
often challenging.
The dorsal root ganglia (DRG) offer an excellent injury model system because both the CNS and PNS are innervated by a
bifurcated axon originating from the same soma. The ganglia represent a discrete collection of cell bodies where all transcriptional events occur,
and thus provide a clearly defined region of transcriptional activity that can be easily and reproducibly removed from the animal. Injury of nerve
fibers in the PNS (e.g. sciatic nerve), where axonal regeneration does occur, should reveal a set of transcriptional programs that are distinct from
those responding to a similar injury in the CNS, where regeneration does not take place (e.g. spinal cord). Sites for transcription factor binding,
histone and DNA modification resulting from injury to either PNS or CNS can be characterized using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP).
Here, we describe a ChIP protocol using fixed mouse DRG tissue following axonal injury. This powerful combination provides a means for characterizing the pro-regeneration chromatin environment necessary for promoting axonal regeneration.

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is essential for proper morphogenesis during development. Misregulation of this process has been implicated as a key event in fibrosis and the progression of carcinomas to a metastatic state. Understanding the processes that underlie EMT is imperative for the early diagnosis and clinical control of these disease states. Reliable induction of EMT in vitro is a useful tool for drug discovery as well as to identify common gene expression signatures for diagnostic purposes. Here we demonstrate a straightforward method for the induction of EMT in a variety of cell types. Methods for the analysis of cells pre- and post-EMT induction by immunocytochemistry are also included. Additionally, we demonstrate the effectiveness of this method through antibody-based array analysis and migration/invasion assays.

Institutions: University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, University of North Carolina School of Medicine.

Current astrocytoma models are limited in their ability to define the roles of oncogenic mutations in specific brain cell types during disease pathogenesis and their utility for preclinical drug development. In order to design a better model system for these applications, phenotypically wild-type cortical astrocytes and neural stem cells (NSC) from conditional, genetically engineered mice (GEM) that harbor various combinations of floxed oncogenic alleles were harvested and grown in culture. Genetic recombination was induced in vitro using adenoviral Cre-mediated recombination, resulting in expression of mutated oncogenes and deletion of tumor suppressor genes. The phenotypic consequences of these mutations were defined by measuring proliferation, transformation, and drug response in vitro. Orthotopic allograft models, whereby transformed cells are stereotactically injected into the brains of immune-competent, syngeneic littermates, were developed to define the role of oncogenic mutations and cell type on tumorigenesis in vivo. Unlike most established human glioblastoma cell line xenografts, injection of transformed GEM-derived cortical astrocytes into the brains of immune-competent littermates produced astrocytomas, including the most aggressive subtype, glioblastoma, that recapitulated the histopathological hallmarks of human astrocytomas, including diffuse invasion of normal brain parenchyma. Bioluminescence imaging of orthotopic allografts from transformed astrocytes engineered to express luciferase was utilized to monitor in vivo tumor growth over time. Thus, astrocytoma models using astrocytes and NSC harvested from GEM with conditional oncogenic alleles provide an integrated system to study the genetics and cell biology of astrocytoma pathogenesis in vitro and in vivo and may be useful in preclinical drug development for these devastating diseases.

Intercellular communication is essential for the coordination of physiological processes between cells in a variety of organs and tissues, including the brain, liver, retina, cochlea and vasculature. In experimental settings, intercellular Ca2+-waves can be elicited by applying a mechanical stimulus to a single cell. This leads to the release of the intracellular signaling molecules IP3 and Ca2+ that initiate the propagation of the Ca2+-wave concentrically from the mechanically stimulated cell to the neighboring cells. The main molecular pathways that control intercellular Ca2+-wave propagation are provided by gap junction channels through the direct transfer of IP3 and by hemichannels through the release of ATP. Identification and characterization of the properties and regulation of different connexin and pannexin isoforms as gap junction channels and hemichannels are allowed by the quantification of the spread of the intercellular Ca2+-wave, siRNA, and the use of inhibitors of gap junction channels and hemichannels. Here, we describe a method to measure intercellular Ca2+-wave in monolayers of primary corneal endothelial cells loaded with Fluo4-AM in response to a controlled and localized mechanical stimulus provoked by an acute, short-lasting deformation of the cell as a result of touching the cell membrane with a micromanipulator-controlled glass micropipette with a tip diameter of less than 1 μm. We also describe the isolation of primary bovine corneal endothelial cells and its use as model system to assess Cx43-hemichannel activity as the driven force for intercellular Ca2+-waves through the release of ATP. Finally, we discuss the use, advantages, limitations and alternatives of this method in the context of gap junction channel and hemichannel research.

Chromatin is a highly dynamic nucleoprotein complex made of DNA and proteins that controls various DNA-dependent processes. Chromatin structure and function at specific regions is regulated by the local enrichment of histone post-translational modifications (hPTMs) and variants, chromatin-binding proteins, including transcription factors, and DNA methylation. The proteomic characterization of chromatin composition at distinct functional regions has been so far hampered by the lack of efficient protocols to enrich such domains at the appropriate purity and amount for the subsequent in-depth analysis by Mass Spectrometry (MS). We describe here a newly designed chromatin proteomics strategy, named ChroP (Chromatin Proteomics), whereby a preparative chromatin immunoprecipitation is used to isolate distinct chromatin regions whose features, in terms of hPTMs, variants and co-associated non-histonic proteins, are analyzed by MS. We illustrate here the setting up of ChroP for the enrichment and analysis of transcriptionally silent heterochromatic regions, marked by the presence of tri-methylation of lysine 9 on histone H3. The results achieved demonstrate the potential of ChroP in thoroughly characterizing the heterochromatin proteome and prove it as a powerful analytical strategy for understanding how the distinct protein determinants of chromatin interact and synergize to establish locus-specific structural and functional configurations.

Mast cells play important roles in allergic disease and immune defense against parasites. Once activated (e.g. by an allergen), they degranulate, a process that results in the exocytosis of allergic mediators. Modulation of mast cell degranulation by drugs and toxicants may have positive or adverse effects on human health. Mast cell function has been dissected in detail with the use of rat basophilic leukemia mast cells (RBL-2H3), a widely accepted model of human mucosal mast cells3-5. Mast cell granule component and the allergic mediator β-hexosaminidase, which is released linearly in tandem with histamine from mast cells6, can easily and reliably be measured through reaction with a fluorogenic substrate, yielding measurable fluorescence intensity in a microplate assay that is amenable to high-throughput studies1. Originally published by Naal et al.1, we have adapted this degranulation assay for the screening of drugs and toxicants and demonstrate its use here.
Triclosan is a broad-spectrum antibacterial agent that is present in many consumer products and has been found to be a therapeutic aid in human allergic skin disease7-11, although the mechanism for this effect is unknown. Here we demonstrate an assay for the effect of triclosan on mast cell degranulation. We recently showed that triclosan strongly affects mast cell function2. In an effort to avoid use of an organic solvent, triclosan is dissolved directly into aqueous buffer with heat and stirring, and resultant concentration is confirmed using UV-Vis spectrophotometry (using ε280 = 4,200 L/M/cm)12. This protocol has the potential to be used with a variety of chemicals to determine their effects on mast cell degranulation, and more broadly, their allergic potential.

Institutions: University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

We describe an in vitro method to measure bladder smooth muscle contractility, and its use for investigating physiological and pharmacological properties of the smooth muscle as well as changes induced by pathology. This method provides critical information for understanding bladder function while overcoming major methodological difficulties encountered in in vivo experiments, such as surgical and pharmacological manipulations that affect stability and survival of the preparations, the use of human tissue, and/or the use of expensive chemicals. It also provides a way to investigate the properties of each bladder component (i.e. smooth muscle, mucosa, nerves) in healthy and pathological conditions.
The urinary bladder is removed from an anesthetized animal, placed in Krebs solution and cut into strips. Strips are placed into a chamber filled with warm Krebs solution. One end is attached to an isometric tension transducer to measure contraction force, the other end is attached to a fixed rod. Tissue is stimulated by directly adding compounds to the bath or by electric field stimulation electrodes that activate nerves, similar to triggering bladder contractions in vivo. We demonstrate the use of this method to evaluate spontaneous smooth muscle contractility during development and after an experimental spinal cord injury, the nature of neurotransmission (transmitters and receptors involved), factors involved in modulation of smooth muscle activity, the role of individual bladder components, and species and organ differences in response to pharmacological agents. Additionally, it could be used for investigating intracellular pathways involved in contraction and/or relaxation of the smooth muscle, drug structure-activity relationships and evaluation of transmitter release.
The in vitro smooth muscle contractility method has been used extensively for over 50 years, and has provided data that significantly contributed to our understanding of bladder function as well as to pharmaceutical development of compounds currently used clinically for bladder management.

Estrogen plays vital roles in mammary gland development and breast cancer progression. It mediates its function by binding to and activating the estrogen receptors (ERs), ERα, and ERβ. ERα is frequently upregulated in breast cancer and drives the proliferation of breast cancer cells. The ERs function as transcription factors and regulate gene expression. Whereas ERα's regulation of protein-coding genes is well established, its regulation of noncoding microRNA (miRNA) is less explored. miRNAs play a major role in the post-transcriptional regulation of genes, inhibiting their translation or degrading their mRNA. miRNAs can function as oncogenes or tumor suppressors and are also promising biomarkers. Among the miRNA assays available, microarray and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) have been extensively used to detect and quantify miRNA levels. To identify miRNAs regulated by estrogen signaling in breast cancer, their expression in ERα-positive breast cancer cell lines were compared before and after estrogen-activation using both the µParaflo-microfluidic microarrays and Dual Labeled Probes-low density arrays. Results were validated using specific qPCR assays, applying both Cyanine dye-based and Dual Labeled Probes-based chemistry. Furthermore, a time-point assay was used to identify regulations over time. Advantages of the miRNA assay approach used in this study is that it enables a fast screening of mature miRNA regulations in numerous samples, even with limited sample amounts. The layout, including the specific conditions for cell culture and estrogen treatment, biological and technical replicates, and large-scale screening followed by in-depth confirmations using separate techniques, ensures a robust detection of miRNA regulations, and eliminates false positives and other artifacts. However, mutated or unknown miRNAs, or regulations at the primary and precursor transcript level, will not be detected. The method presented here represents a thorough investigation of estrogen-mediated miRNA regulation.

During spermatogenesis in mammals and in Drosophila melanogaster, male germ cells develop in a series of essential developmental processes. This includes differentiation from a stem cell population, mitotic amplification, and meiosis. In addition, post-meiotic germ cells undergo a dramatic morphological reshaping process as well as a global epigenetic reconfiguration of the germ line chromatin—the histone-to-protamine switch.
Studying the role of a protein in post-meiotic spermatogenesis using mutagenesis or other genetic tools is often impeded by essential embryonic, pre-meiotic, or meiotic functions of the protein under investigation. The post-meiotic phenotype of a mutant of such a protein could be obscured through an earlier developmental block, or the interpretation of the phenotype could be complicated. The model organism Drosophila melanogaster offers a bypass to this problem: intact testes and even cysts of germ cells dissected from early pupae are able to develop ex vivo in culture medium. Making use of such cultures allows microscopic imaging of living germ cells in testes and of germ-line cysts. Importantly, the cultivated testes and germ cells also become accessible to pharmacological inhibitors, thereby permitting manipulation of enzymatic functions during spermatogenesis, including post-meiotic stages.
The protocol presented describes how to dissect and cultivate pupal testes and germ-line cysts. Information on the development of pupal testes and culture conditions are provided alongside microscope imaging data of live testes and germ-line cysts in culture. We also describe a pharmacological assay to study post-meiotic spermatogenesis, exemplified by an assay targeting the histone-to-protamine switch using the histone acetyltransferase inhibitor anacardic acid. In principle, this cultivation method could be adapted to address many other research questions in pre- and post-meiotic spermatogenesis.

Neurological injury is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality from general anesthesia and related surgical procedures that could be alleviated by development of effective, easy to administer and safe preconditioning treatments. We seek to define the neural immune signaling responsible for cold-preconditioning as means to identify novel targets for therapeutics development to protect brain before injury onset. Low-level pro-inflammatory mediator signaling changes over time are essential for cold-preconditioning neuroprotection. This signaling is consistent with the basic tenets of physiological conditioning hormesis, which require that irritative stimuli reach a threshold magnitude with sufficient time for adaptation to the stimuli for protection to become evident.
Accordingly, delineation of the immune signaling involved in cold-preconditioning neuroprotection requires that biological systems and experimental manipulations plus technical capacities are highly reproducible and sensitive. Our approach is to use hippocampal slice cultures as an in vitro model that closely reflects their in vivo counterparts with multi-synaptic neural networks influenced by mature and quiescent macroglia / microglia. This glial state is particularly important for microglia since they are the principal source of cytokines, which are operative in the femtomolar range. Also, slice cultures can be maintained in vitro for several weeks, which is sufficient time to evoke activating stimuli and assess adaptive responses. Finally, environmental conditions can be accurately controlled using slice cultures so that cytokine signaling of cold-preconditioning can be measured, mimicked, and modulated to dissect the critical node aspects. Cytokine signaling system analyses require the use of sensitive and reproducible multiplexed techniques. We use quantitative PCR for TNF-α to screen for microglial activation followed by quantitative real-time qPCR array screening to assess tissue-wide cytokine changes. The latter is a most sensitive and reproducible means to measure multiple cytokine system signaling changes simultaneously. Significant changes are confirmed with targeted qPCR and then protein detection. We probe for tissue-based cytokine protein changes using multiplexed microsphere flow cytometric assays using Luminex technology. Cell-specific cytokine production is determined with double-label immunohistochemistry. Taken together, this brain tissue preparation and style of use, coupled to the suggested investigative strategies, may be an optimal approach for identifying potential targets for the development of novel therapeutics that could mimic the advantages of cold-preconditioning.

Chromatin structure is important for the regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes. In this process, chromatin remodeling, DNA methylation, and covalent modifications on the amino-terminal tails of histones H3 and H4 play essential roles1-2. H3 and H4 histone modifications include methylation of lysine and arginine, acetylation of lysine, and phosphorylation of serine residues1-2. These modifications are associated either with gene activation, repression, or a primed state of gene that supports more rapid and robust activation of expression after perception of appropriate signals (microbe-associated molecular patterns, light, hormones, etc.)3-7.
Here, we present a method for the reliable and sensitive detection of specific chromatin modifications on selected plant genes. The technique is based on the crosslinking of (modified) histones and DNA with formaldehyde8,9, extraction and sonication of chromatin, chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with modification-specific antibodies9,10, de-crosslinking of histone-DNA complexes, and gene-specific real-time quantitative PCR. The approach has proven useful for detecting specific histone modifications associated with C4 photosynthesis in maize5,11 and systemic immunity in Arabidopsis3.

In response to a variety of extracellular ligands, the STAT (signal transducer and activator of transcription) transcription factors are rapidly recruited from their latent state in the cytoplasm to cell surface receptors where they are activated by phosphorylation at a single tyrosine residue1. They then dimerize and translocate to the nucleus to drive the transcription of target genes, affecting growth, differentiation, homeostasis and the immune response. Not surprisingly, given their widespread involvement in normal cell processes, dysregulation of STAT function contributes to human disease, particularly to cancers2 and autoimmune diseases3. It is well established that transcription is regulated by alterations to the chromatin template4,5. These alterations include the activities of ATP-dependent complexes, as well as covalent histone modifications and DNA methylation6. Because STAT activation of gene expression is both rapid and transient, it requires specific mechanisms for modulating the chromatin template at STAT-dependent gene loci. To define these mechanisms, we characterize the histone modifications and the enzymatic activities that generate them at gene loci that respond to STAT signaling. This protocol describes chromatin immunoprecipitation, a method that is valuable for the study of STAT signaling to chromatin in activated gene expression.

The use of primary cardiomyocytes (CMs) in culture has provided a powerful complement to murine models of heart disease in advancing our understanding of heart disease. In particular, the ability to study ion homeostasis, ion channel function, cellular excitability and excitation-contraction coupling and their alterations in diseased conditions and by disease-causing mutations have led to significant insights into cardiac diseases. Furthermore, the lack of an adequate immortalized cell line to mimic adult CMs, and the limitations of neonatal CMs (which lack many of the structural and functional biomechanics characteristic of adult CMs) in culture have hampered our understanding of the complex interplay between signaling pathways, ion channels and contractile properties in the adult heart strengthening the importance of studying adult isolated cardiomyocytes. Here, we present methods for the isolation, culture, manipulation of gene expression by adenoviral-expressed proteins, and subsequent functional analysis of cardiomyocytes from the adult mouse. The use of these techniques will help to develop mechanistic insight into signaling pathways that regulate cellular excitability, Ca2+ dynamics and contractility and provide a much more physiologically relevant characterization of cardiovascular disease.

The use of siRNA mediated gene knockdown is continuing to be an important tool in studies of gene expression. siRNA studies are being conducted not only to study the effects of downregulating single genes, but also to interrogate signaling pathways and other complex interaction networks. These pathway analyses require both the use of relevant cellular models and methods that cause less perturbation to the cellular physiology. Electroporation is increasingly being used as an effective way to introduce siRNA and other nucleic acids into difficult to transfect cell lines and primary cells without altering the signaling pathway under investigation. There are multiple critical steps to a successful siRNA experiment, and there are ways to simplify the work while improving the data quality at several experimental stages. To help you get started with your siRNA mediated gene knockdown project, we will demonstrate how to perform a pathway study complete from collecting and counting the cells prior to electroporation through post transfection real-time PCR gene expression analysis. The following study investigates the role of the transcriptional activator STAT6 in IL-4 dependent gene expression of CCL17 in a Burkitt lymphoma cell line (Namalwa). The techniques demonstrated are useful for a wide range of siRNA-based experiments on both adherent and suspension cells. We will also show how to streamline cell counting with the TC10 automated cell counter, how to electroporate multiple samples simultaneously using the MXcell electroporation system, and how to simultaneously assess RNA quality and quantity with the Experion automated electrophoresis system.

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